Various types of electronic message formats are available for communicating information among distributed computers for the purpose of topical discussion or topical informational sharing. This may include Voice Mail, Electronic Mail, Instant Message conversations, alerts, meeting requests and confirmations, task assignments, organization-wide document search and web search results.
Currently, people spend a considerable amount of time to read, manage, and process the increasing number of electronic messages they receive from a wide variety of sources. It is often impossible to give the same attention to each of these messages. Most of the computer software in charge of the management of messages displays basic information—which might be compared to an envelope in a mailbox. However, a large amount of information that might help the recipient to identify whether a message is important or not is not visible by looking at the envelope (this may include source, destination, intermediate paths, and sensitivity of the electronic message). Indeed, most of the crucial information of a letter is in the letter itself. A typical email user is usually forced to select or double-click on a message to see its content (or full content), one message at a time. In one of the embodiments, both the summarized content, and the security context of several messages arranged in a prioritized visual display fashion, are presented to the user at the same time
In conventional methods, the value associated and therefore the order for further processing is based on limited number of attributes such as the source and the time of delivery. The coupling of these attributes is then used to sort the order in which these messages are displayed for analysis and/or processing. In the prior art, the sorted order of messages is typically not the order in which a typical user arranges his or her priorities. A paradox results; while intended to make a user's interaction easier and increase his/her productivity, the existing art ignores or fails to systematically account for the human cognitive behavior of document processing, or what a specific user is doing mentally as they decide what messages within a message queue are worth pursuing.
In the prior art a limited consideration is made to Inherent Priority with loose analysis on Situational Priority (terms defined below). This results in a false and inaccurate prioritization as compared to the actual or desired perception of the recipient.
However, in order to gain productivity, the requirement of most electronic message users is to process messages according to their own relevance and importance needs (including individual's own logic, interest, work culture and policies, user schedule and work habits). This will vary over a period of time and will widely differ from one user to another. In one of the embodiments, the.
Further, missing from the art is a system that learns from, and adapts itself to, a user's prioritization needs. Such a system has increased system accuracy and reliability as compared to the static cognitive models. The present invention can satisfy one or more of these and other needs.